Raveled

Jessica closed her eyes as her mind went into action, the bits and pieces of the puzzle she already had sliding around and trying to find a sensible solution. Calculations flashed through her brain as fast as any supercomputer, and mentally she assembled the different components into different configurations. And then there was the eureka moment, the lightbulb coming on as it all came together in a tidal wave of understanding that left a cold knot in her gut. "A kill sat." She turned and raised her voice so Magnus could hear. "The VES power systems, the point-to-point laser communicators from Dawes Tech, and the energy power regulators and amplifiers from HAX. They're making a laser cannon that could be hidden and mounted on a commercial vehicle. Or, if they have orbital launch capability, on a satellite too small for a conventional military attack."

Blue Jay's Ini (1d20+15=26) What sucks worse than an assassin with height and range? An assassin with Initiative bonus and Autofire.

:ohdear: That sounds... yikes, Scuffles. Concentrate on resting and getting better!

Jessica rolled her eyes, listening to her friend's normal distraction. "Actually, this is something of an immediate matter. There have been electronic attacks on Dawes Technical Solutions, as well as Katasrof & Sorenson Technologies. Some evidence has lead me to believe that HAX may also be a target." She paused for a moment to let Mara's brain chew on that information. "I understand if you would prefer to discuss this face-to-face, rather than over the phone. I'm over at K&ST's building right now, as a matter of fact." She tiled the phone away from her face, so the next words wouldn't be audible to Mara. That's because they directed at Magnus. "Quick question, do your windows in here open? Wide?"

A quick run-down on Concealment and senses. One rank of Concealment protects from a single sense, while two ranks protect an entire sense type. A sense is something like thermovision, or radio, or ultrahearing. A sense type would be visual senses (thermovision, normal vision, UV vision, everything). visual senses cost double to buy, so two ranks of Concealment could shield Phantom from one visual sense; thermovision, UV vision, normal vision, or something else. You should note more clearly what it effects.

Jessica nodded at the explanation of the VES. It wasn't too different than how her armor was powered, though she used the quantum foam effect to find a wormhole and exploit matter/antimatter reactions. She immediately dived into the manipulable model of the engine, pulling it apart and tapping pieces to get more information. "Oh, you used a cross-wise nanotube arrangement for the washers? Interesting. I tend towards sticking with metal, myself." After a minute she forced herself to push away from the table, turning away from the now-exploded model. "If by pro-active contacts, you mean that I work with superheroes, yes. I could even put a call into the Freedom League, though frankly I think you'd get as far with them as I would. If need be though, I could talk to my coworkers at the Lab. However, they're usually engaged in their own projects and I wouldn't want to pull them away." She drummed her fingers on the edge of the table at the mention of HAX. "I do know Mara Hallowman, yes. I suppose it might be faster if I approach her, rather than yourself, Baron." Jessica stood and pulled out her smartphone, unlocking the screen and dialing up Mara's office number. She stepped towards the window to get a little bit of privacy and waited for Mara's secretary to answer. "Yes, this is Jessica Parker. I'd like to speak to Mara Hallowman, please."

Ironclad grinned behind her helmet. "I wasn't scared," she said. "I was excited. I'd designed every system on the suit myself. Heck, I built more a few parts by hand, to keep a secret! It was the most complicated thing I'd ever built, and I was so happy when it worked right." Her expression grew darker. "And I'll be damned if I let someone who lairs under a war monument rip apart the company that helped me make it." By that time they were almost directly over the park. Ironclad put herself into a steep dive, arrowing in towards the river. She switched her sonar to active pinging and quickly mapped the riverbed, then pulled up at the last second to slice a furrow into the top of the water, raising a rooster tail pointing directly at the monument. It wasn't just flashy: it also raised a hell of a lot of silt and muck off the bottom of the river, making it almost impossible to see under the water. Ironclad's sonar allowed her to pinpoint the steel door set into the side of the river, though, and she directed power away from her thrusters and towards the suit's servo-muscles as she approached it. Gripping one edge, she set her feet and pulled, slowly bending the thick steel of the door out of true and letting a torrent of water flood the dark space behind. Ironclad pinged the darkened space one more time, before plunging in.

Blue Jay's stomach sank when Wander mentioned flying in a car hauled around by the Bee-Keeper. It wasn't that she thought he's drop him (she was pretty sure she can grapple onto him if that happened), but she still wasn't used to the ideas of flying hundreds of feet in the air, faster than a bird. It all struck her as unnatural, and she wasn't looking forward do it. Wander's oblique mention of leaving someone vulnerable got Jay thinking about her friends at Claremont. Her first thought was that Sam, Mali, and Cerys were safer than anything, but then she realized how easily she had been snatched from her bed. She walked over to Quickstep, nodding at the other girl. "Did you manage to get a chance to check out Claremont? The one back at the Freedom City Curator made?"

Starlight followed the AEGIS agents, noting the hidden elevator with some humor. The poster on the wall wasn't so amusing to her, and she suddenly wished she had a communication device so she could leave it on. "Is it really necessary for us to work as AEGIS agents during this," she asked. "We are all superheroes. Going after villains and criminals in our own time is what we do." She glanced around at the close confines of the elevator and the stony-faced agents. "I do no relish having to report to Director Powers, or being ordered around by other AEGIS agents."

Exotic saves can be brought down a bit. Ideally they should even out to something like PL -2. Any more than that and it might be a bit boring as you shrug off all attacks. It might be a bit boring to have Skill Mastery on all of his skills, seeing as it reduces the amount of rolling you get to/have to do. I wouldn't list Invisibility. I'd use something more like Concealment 2 (Normal Visual), but that's just me. List precise ranges and speeds for Datalink and Flight. Overall, the design and the concept look solid. A little bit like Space Ghost, in all honesty, which is a good thing for me!

Here's the problem I see, here. This is Freedom City Play by Post. Most stories about your character should happen in and around Freedom City. That's not saying that a character can't occasionally venture into the depths of space (I have a thread like that going right now, actually) but you should plan for most of their stories to involve Freedom City and the locales around it. A character who is going to be spending 90% of their time and telling most of their stories off the planet really wouldn't fit here. I'm sure one of the refs could explain it in more detail.

Jessica watched as Magnus deftly manipulated the holoimages. He'd obviously worked with such systems for a long time, and the projectors in the ceiling didn't have any problem following his actions. Of course most of her brain was following the meat of the presentation, but part of her couldn't stop analyzing the mechanisms on display. Until he mentioned DTS. Then she sat up taller, feeling a tingle go down her spine. "I... wasn't quite aware there had been another break in." She flicked her eyes over the file headings. "Some of these are in telecommunications," she muttered, mostly to herself. "I could find out the details of what the other projects involved, but I'd want to know how exactly the Vacuum Energy System works." Her mind was working furiously, part of it trying to determine what the villainous plan was and part of it trying to figure out how much of Dawes's secrets she could reveal to a competitor. She did a double-take on the map of Freedom City. One dot represented what could only be HAX. Jessica had stayed away from Mara's own business venture, in large part because she wasn't sure she could keep an appropriate distance between her relationship with Dragonfly and her relationship with Mara Hallowman. However, now a meeting between them seemed inevitable. She pressed a hand against her temple and asked Magnus, "Have you contacted the... private owner, yet?"

Power Level: 10 (150 PP) Trade-Offs: None Abilities: 4 + 8 + 6 + 0 + 0 + 6 = 24PP Strength: 14 (+2) Dexterity: 18 (+4) Constitution: 16 (+3) Intelligence: 10 (+0) Wisdom: 10 (+0) Charisma: 16 (+3) Combat: 12 + 8 = 20PP Initiative: +8 Attack: +10 melee, +6 ranged Grapple: +12 Defense: +10 (+4 Base, +6 Dodge Focus), +2 Flat-Footed Knockback: -5/-10 Saving Throws: 5 + 6 + 6 = 16PP Toughness: +10 (+3 Con, +7 Protection, 10 Impervious [Physical Only], 10 Reflective [Physical Only]) Fortitude: +8 (+3 Con, +5) Reflex: +10 (+4 Dex, +6) Will: +6 (+0 Wis, +6) Skills: 120R = 30PP Acrobatics 11 (+15)Skill Mastery Bluff 12 (+15/+19 w/ Attractive)Skill Mastery Climb 10 (+10)Skill Mastery Diplomacy 8 (+11/+15 w/ Attractive) Drive 11 (+15) Knowledge (Business) 10 (+10) Knowledge (Current Events) 10 (+10) Knowledge (Popular Culture) 10 (+10)Skill Mastery Language 5 (Arabic, English [Native], French, Mandarin, Japanese, Spanish) Medicine 5 (+5) Notice 10 (+10) Sense Motive 10 (+10) Swim 8 (+10) Feats: 27PP Accurate Attack Acrobatic Bluff All-Out Attack Attack Focus (Melee) 4 Attractive Benefit (Wealth 2) Distract (Bluff) Dodge Focus 6 Endurance Elusive Target Evasion Improved Initiative Luck 2 Move-By Action Power Attack Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Bluff, Climb, Knowledge [Popular Culture]) Taunt Powers: 8 + 2 + 23 = 33pp Device 2 (10 PP, Hard to Lose) [8PP] (Next Generation Sports Suit) Immunity 3 (Cold, Heat, Breathe Underwater) [3PP] Protection 7 [7PP] Leaping 2 (x5, move action) [2PP] (Bound and Rebound) Personal Gravity Array 10 (20 PP, Feats: Alternate Power 3) [23PP] BE: Strike 8 (Feat: Knockback 10, Mighty) (Falling Hammerblow) AP: Trip 10 (Extra: Area/General [burst], Feat: Knockback 10, Flaw: Range/Touch) (Shake 'Em Up) AP: Flight 5 (250 MPH) (Falling With Style) AP: Personal Gravity Field Manipulation Impervious Toughness 10 (Flaw: Physical Only) Reflective Toughness 10 (Physical Only) Immunity (Falling Damage, Flaw: Duration/Sustained) Abilities (24) + Combat (20) + Saving Throws (16) + Skills (30) + Feats (27) + Powers (33) - Disadvantages (0) = 150/150 PP What happens when you mix extreme sports with superpowers? You get a guy who can fall at Mach 1 and still stop on a dime. This character can manipulate their personal gravity field; that is to say they can make themselves fly into the air, drop like they weigh a ton, or turn aside projectiles, but they can't trap someone in a bubble of hyper-gravity or lift an object by making it weightless (though not massless; anyone ever done the math on how much inertia a city bus weighs?). They use this to zip around the battlefield acrobatically and punch the bad guys with a fist that's been increased to several times its usual density. Since I usually associate extreme sports with folks who have way too much time and money on their hands ("Hey, let's go to the top of a skyscraper and jump off" doesn't synergize well with "My kid's got a band recital in the morning, somehow) I also included bits of the typical rich dilettante, or at least what comic books think a rich dilettante is like. Think Oliver Queen if he'd gotten gravity superpowers instead of a bow & arrow. He uses his wealth to fly around the world and take place in the most hair-raising exploits he can find, as well as buying a super-advanced suit of lightweight, super- armor to protect himself when his jetski flips over, or when the shark cage crumples, or when a supervillain finds his flipping and flying annoying and manages to clip him with a ray gun. The easiest way this guy could've gotten his powers is by mutation. A skydive or BASE jump with a faulty parachute could easily require one to gain the ability to fly, or at least land softly. Cue a few weeks of stardom as the latest mutant darling of the media, and then the inevitable supervillain attacks. Rich Gravity Boy fights the villain off, much to everyone's amazement, and finds out that combat is the biggest rush he's ever felt. So it's off to be a hero, and have amazing, exciting adventures! And have you seen the outfits some of those super-ladies get into? Yowza!

Gnarly. One quick note -- the Superman expy in the setting had the secret identity of Mark Leeds, so I'd change his surname. Otherwise it's a bit like a DC hero named Copernicus Kent, you know? Before dissecting the mechanics, I have a big question -- why is this guy on Earth? Okay, he's a human being, but he wasn't born here. Unless the aliens brought his parents here, there doesn't seem to be a reason for this guy to ever leave his home planet. If this is something you intend to address with his first thread, that's fine, but I'd suggest filling out the backstory at least until he has a solid reason to stay on Earth (or at least live here while adventuring IN SPAAAACE).

Tona grumbled under her breath. "Couldn't have made me look like Nana Visitor, or Gina Torres," she said. "Had make me look like a shoplifter." A few steps further on though she bumped Sam's hip to get her attention and flashed her a smile. It had been the most excitement all day, frankly, and since they hadn't been caught by Changeling it was silly to hold a grudge. Speaking of Changeling, their quarry turned into the cafe. The girls followed her but all too soon she was walking back out again, holding a cup of coffee and a copy of a newspaper. She took a seat at an outdoor table -- the last free outdoor table around. Tona quickly guided Sam to a table inside that had a view of the outdoor tables and sat down. "So what do we do now," she asked quietly, staring at the older woman reading her paper out in the sunlight.

Illusions won't be able to react to anything (like, say, getting shot) without instructions.

If we're going to be hurting people, time for Initiatives. Blue Jay's Ini. (1d20+15=23)

Time to do some :science:

Jessica had been rather surprised to receive a personal email from a business leader at her publicly available, Lab-provided email address. She was even more surprised to see that it was from a baron, and someone that seemed to be the head of his own electronics firm. He'd spoken vaguely of needing to meet with her, which put her somewhat on edge. Supervillains had attacked the Lab before; of course they rarely sent out engraved invitations beforehand, so she felt fairly safe meeting with Katastrof. The email made things sound like a personal meeting, but this was at a company's headquarters and if Katatstrof was the head of the company he might see a business matter as a personal one. Accordingly, Jessica had dressed in a forest-green business-casual suit with a pencil skirt and flats. She didn't bother to bring a computer up with her (though she did make sure her tablet was fully charged and locked before leaving it in the glovebox of her car) and the only jewelry she wore was the silver bracelet/wristwatch/armor beacon that accompanied her everywhere. The building itself was impressive, rather more modern than Dawes Tech and not so focused on the end product as the Lab. There was a surprising amount of chiseled stone in evidence, but there were also LED lights and access terminals for tablet computers, so she decided to treat Katastrof as an equal, as much into high technology as she was. The meeting room was impressive with its subtle touches of technology, and she couldn't resist raising her head to count the small bulges in the ceiling. If they were projection units and they covered an area of such and such degrees, then they'd intersect to cover just a certain amount of the room's volume, which would mean that... Her musings were cut short when Katastrof introduced himself. She shook his hand briefly and took a seat a few spaces down from him at the table. "No, breakfast wasn't that long ago," she replied. "I'm impressed by your building. Do you do research here, or is this solely for administration?"

Ironclad lead the way, cutting a path through the skies, the Bee-Keeper easily keeping up in his yellow-and-black armor. In no time at all they left they urban sprawl behind and were rocketing over farmland. Ironclad kept a careful eye on her airspeed indicator, throttling back on the thrust until they were traveling at just below the speed of sound. Inside her soundproofed and insulted metal shell, Ironclad's world was silent. After a moment she opened up communications with Bee-Keeper's suit. "I like traveling up here," she admitted to him. "It's peaceful. I can't imagine what it's like for some of the natural fliers, like Fulcrum. Being able to go high up, or even into space, whenever you want must be amazing. Just to get away from everything and everyone for a few minutes."

Power Level: 10 (150 PP) Trade-Offs: None Abilities: 10 + 10 + 8 + 2 + 0 + 0 = 30 PP Strength 20 (+5) Dexterity 20 (+5) Constitution 18 (+4) Intelligence 12 (+1) Wisdom 10 (+0) Charisma 10 (+0) Combat: 12 + 12 = 24 PP Attack: +6 Melee, +6 Ranged, +10 Beam Array Defense: +10 (+6 Base, +4 Dodge Focus), +3 Flat-Footed Initiative: +9 Grapple: +19/+13/+11 Knockback: -5 Saving Throws: 4 + 0 + 6 = 10 PP Toughness: +10 (+4 CON, +6 Protection) Fortitude: +8 (+4 CON, +4) Reflex: +5 (+5 DEX) Will: +6 (+0 WIS, +6) Skills: 44r = 11 PP Acrobatics 10 (+15)Skill Mastery Climb 7 (+12)Skill Mastery Notice 9 (+10)Skill Mastery Search 9 (+10) Sense Motive 9 (+10)Skill Mastery Feats: 13 PP Accurate Attack Acrobatic Bluff Defensive Attack Dodge Focus 4 Improved Grab Improved Initiative Improved Pin Power Attack Skill Mastery (Acrobatics, Climb, Notice, Sense Motive) Uncanny Dodge (Auditory) Powers: 2 + 44 + 16 = 62 PP Additional Limbs 2 (2 Arms) [2PP] Device 11 (65 PP, Hard to Lose) [44PP] (Battlesuit) Beam Array 10 (Feats: Accurate 2, Alternate Power 4) [26PP] BE: Blast 10 (Straight-Up Beam) AP: Strike 10 (Extra: Area/Targeted [Cone]) (Wide-Angle Beam) AP: Strike 10 (Extra: Penetrating [10]) (Cutting Beam) AP: Blast 10 (Extra: Autofire [10], Flaw: Action/Full Round) (Beam Spam) AP: Dazzle 5 (Visual, Extra: Range/Ranged) (Eye Beams) Flight 4 (100 MPH) [8PP] Protection 6 [6PP] Super-Strength 6 (Str 50, Feats: Bracing, Counter-Punch, Groundstrike) [15PP] Device 4 (20 PP, Hard to Lose) [16PP] (Vampiric Power Ring) Immunity 11 (Aging, Life Support, Eat/Drink, Sleep) [11 PP] Ring Array (Feats: Alternate Power 3, Flaw: Side-Effect [-1]) [7PP] BE: Drain Toughness 10 (Blood Letting) AP: Concealment 10 (All senses, Flaw: Blending) (Obfuscation) AP: Mind Control 10 (Flaw: Requires Mental Grapple) (Mind Powers) Super-Senses 2 (Darkvision) [2PP] Abilities (30) + Combat (24) + Saving Throws (10) + Skills (11) + Feats (13) + Powers (62) - Disadvantages (0) = 150 PP Let it never be said that I am beyond one-ups manship.

GM The dark of the building was no lighter to Arcturus's bear eyes, but his enhanced sense of smell led him better than his sight ever could. Of course it wasn't an unequivocal blessing; he quickly became aware that a few dozen people had called the lower levels home, people for whom regular baths were a luxury and a dream. Once he got over the shock of it, though, he realized that the smell was stale, old, more the memory of filth than something vibrant and renewed. Before long he found out why, as one massive paw overturned a cardboard sheet to find a woman's body, her throat ripped out and the blood drained from her body. A nearby box shack held a similar surprise, and underneath a veil of threadbare curtains three people, evidently a family group of some kind, lay intertwined and still. It was a grim business but he couldn't turn from it, and soon the tally was completed. Twenty bodies, all homeless or vagrants, all dead by a single, precise blow. All left where they had fallen. All bloodless. And then suddenly the smell of blood increased tenfold, and the hero could hear the sound of claws on stone.

Blue Jay's vision cleared and she rolled to the side, more by instinct than anything else. It was a good move though, since a moment later the zombie's misshapen foot came down where her head had been. Jay rolled to her feet and did the most counter-intuitive thing she could think of: she grabbed the zombie and began climbing him. Her nimble form scurried around his broad torso and onto his back, always a grasp away from thick, powerful hands. She climbed up to his shoulders and sat there for a moment, swaying, lining up her next shot. She brought her hands together and raised them up, then struck a hammerblow at the base of the zombie's skull. He swayed suddenly and threw her off, but she landed on her feet and was ready for more.

Initiative 29 Blue Jay -- Bruisex1 -- HPx1 13 ZombieHouse -- Uninjured -- GM Blue Jay Move Action: Acrobatic Bluff. Skill Mastery gets DC 25. ZombieHouse's Sense Motive check, vs DC 25. (1d20+7=24) This thing is rolling far, far too well for a fight this early in the thread. Standard Action: Melee attack with full Power Attack. Blue Jay's melee attack, vs ZombieHouse's flat-footed Def. DC 25 Tou (1d20+10=13) That actually hits because it's flat-footed. ZombieHouse's Toughness save, vs DC 25. (1d20+14=20) Injury + Daze. Yessssss.

Tona followed Sam up to the counter, letting the other girl pay for the jewelry. The older woman rang them up with a sniff. "Well it's good to see that you're learning your lesson from last time." Tona blinked and gave the woman a blank look. "What are you talking about?" "Last time you were here. Remember, the way you tried to steal that necklace?" She sniffed sharply again. "It would've been a lot worse if I'd caught you before the cops, that's for sure." Tona ground her teeth. Of course she hadn't stolen anything from this shop in her life, but with the disguises... She grabbed the bag containing her purchase, and as soon as they were out of the store she gripped Sam's arm. "Just who's body did you drop me into," she hissed. Changeling, for her part, exited soon after the girls, arranging the long chain of gemstones to hang in her hair. She followed the block down towards a cafe on the corner.